Response Plan Implemented After Florida’s First Chronic Wasting Disease Case
June 21, 2023
Following the confirmation of Florida’s first case of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in Holmes County, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) have implemented management actions and an executive order to protect against the possible spread of CWD.
As part of a response plan, the FWC will collect samples from specific established zones to further assess the spread of the disease. The results from this initial sampling effort will inform resource managers so they can respond with appropriate management strategies.
As part of the plan, the FWC will collect samples from specific established zones to further assess the spread of the disease. The results from this initial sampling effort will inform resource managers so they can respond with appropriate management strategies.
In an executive order signed by FWC Executive Director Roger Young on June 19, new actions include:
- Establishment of a CWD Management Zone centered around the location of the positive sample. The CWD Management Zone includes the portions of Holmes, Jackson and Washington counties north of Interstate 10, east of State Road 81 and west of U.S. Highway 231.
- The prohibition of exporting whole cervid (deer) carcasses and high-risk carcass parts originating from the CWD Management Zone
- The prohibition of baiting or feeding deer within the CWD Management Zone with limited exceptions
- The prohibition of rehabilitating or releasing injured or orphaned white-tailed deer originating within the CWD Management Zone.
FDACS management actions to date include:
- Heightened review of transportation permits for intra-state captive cervids to or from captive cervid facilities within the CWD Management Zone.
- Increased communication with captive cervid facilities in the CWD Management Zone.
- Quarantine of all captive cervid facilities in the CWD Management Zone.
- The Florida Department of Health has provided informational resources to all county health offices in the area and is integrated into the Unified Command to assist as necessary.
The purpose of these regulations is to help protect Florida’s white-tailed deer herd by reducing the potential spread of CWD within the CWD Management Zone and to other parts of the state.
Controlling the spread of CWD is difficult once it becomes established in a natural population. Because prions shed by infected deer persist in the environment, the best chance for controlling CWD is acting quickly after it’s been detected to prevent more animals from becoming infected. CWD can be transmitted directly – from animal to animal – or indirectly from the environment. Multiple management strategies will be employed to control the spread of the disease.
The FWC is asking anyone who sees a sick, abnormally thin deer or finds a deer dead from unknown causes to call the CWD hotline, 866-CWD-WATCH (866-293-9282) and report the animal’s location.
Currently, there is no scientific evidence that CWD can be transmitted to humans or livestock under natural conditions. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention do not recommend consuming meat from animals that test positive for CWD or from any sick animal. The FWC provides information about precautions people should take when pursuing or handling deer that might have been exposed to CWD.
Blue Wahoos, Smokies Rained Out In Tennessee
June 21, 2023
Tuesday’s series opener between the Pensacola Blue Wahoos and Tennessee Smokies has been postponed due to rain at Smokies Stadium.
The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Thursday, with first pitch beginning at 4:30 CT. Both games will be seven-inning contests.
Pensacola’s magic number to clinch the First Half South Division Championship remains at two. They can clinch with one more win, or if Montgomery, Mississippi and Biloxi each lose a game. All three South Division foes were scheduled to play their series openers, meaning the Blue Wahoos could still secure a playoff spot on Tuesday pending other results around the league.
Wednesday’s regularly scheduled game will not be impacted by Tuesday’s rainout.
written by Erik Bremer
Tate Lady Aggies Present $27,755 Strike Out Cancer Game Donation
June 20, 2023
The Tate Lady Aggies Softball team has presented their annual Strike Out Cancer donation
The Lady Aggies presented a $27,755 donation to the American Cancer Society.
Back on March 31, Tate hosted the West Florida Lady Jaguars in the Strike Out Cancer game. During the game, the Lady Jaguars defeated the Lady Aggies 6-1.
Pictured top: The Tate Lady Aggies Softball team presented their annual Strike Out Cancer donation. Pictured below: The Strike Out Cancer game March 31 at Tate High School. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Blue Wahoos Fall In Finale With Biscuits
June 19, 2023
The Blue Wahoos stumbled to the end of their two-week homestand.
But they remained standing on the doorstep Sunday of clinching another half-season division win and securing a chance to defend their Southern League championship.
Trailing 7-1 in the eighth inning with only two hits in the game, the Blue Wahoos got a flyover from the Blue Angels, learned of Montgomery’s win, staged a five-run rally, then had the winning run at the plate in the ninth before the Mississippi Braves held on for a 7-6 victory.
A capacity crowd (5,038) – the third straight of the weekend at Blue Wahoos Stadium – went from silent to screaming in the final two innings. M-Braves’ top closer Victor Vodnik struck out the final two batters, Norel González and Griffin Conine, to strand tying runner Nasim Nuñez at first base and seal the win.
After winning the first two games of this series, the Blue Wahoos have lost four straight for the first time this season.
All was not lost, however.
The Blue Wahoos continued receiving help from the Montgomery Biscuits, who held off the Biloxi Shuckers 6-5 to win their series Sunday and set up a simple scenario.
There are six games left in the first half of the Southern League schedule. The Blue Wahoos need just one road win against the Tennessee Smokies when that series begins Tuesday to clinch the first half. The other three teams in the division – Biloxi, Montgomery, Mississippi – would each have to go 6-0 in series against North Division teams to avoid elimination.
The Biscuits, now in second place, trail by five games. But the Blue Wahoos hold the tie breaker in this case. The Blue Wahoos lead Biloxi by six games – the Shuckers hold the tiebreaker – so it would take six losses and six Biloxi wins against the Chattanooga Lookouts to change the South Division standings.
Same with the M-Braves, who face Rocket City and trail by 5.5 games.
The North Division standings are much closer. The Lookouts, the Cincinnati Reds affiliate, lead the Smokies by a half-game after Sunday’s results.
The M-Braves continued their winning formula Sunday against the Blue Wahoos. They jumped to a big lead on big blasts and put the Blue Wahoos in a deep mid-inning hole.
Four different M-Braves hitters smashed home runs against three different pitchers. That equated into 18 homers struck in the six games this week against Blue Wahoos pitchers.
Meanwhile, M-Braves starter Tanner Gordon, who was hit hard Tuesday, carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning before J.D. Orr’s single.
In the seventh, Cody Morissette drove in the first run after González walked and advanced on a wild pitch.
Trailing 7-1 in the bottom of the eighth, the Blue Wahoos produced five runs on one hit. Three M-Braves pitchers combined to give up six walks and a hit batter, leading into the rally. The Blue Wahoos finished with just three hits in the game.
But it took Vodnik fanning González, then getting Conine on a 100-mph fastball, to end the game and thwart the Blue Wahoos’ improbable comeback.
Blue Wahoos starter Jake Walters, making only his second start this season, struggled in four innings, allowing a pair of home runs to absorb the loss.
The Blue Wahoos will now begin another two-week road trip to conclude June, beginning on Tuesday against the Tennessee Smokies, who are battling for first-place against the Lookouts for the Southern League North Division first half title.
The Blue Wahoos will use Monday as a travel day for their longest road trip, an eight-hour bus ride to Kodak, Tennessee, located near Knoxville. They will finish the first half schedule with a six-game series against the Tennessee Smokies beginning Tuesday. The Smokies are the Chicago Cubs’ Double-A affiliate.
by Bill Vilona, photo Nino Mendez / Pensacola Blue Wahoos
NWE 8U Wins Cal Ripken District Tournament
June 18, 2023
Northwest Escambia defeated host team Poarch 13-4 Saturday to win the District 7 Cal Ripken Baseball Tournament at Arrowhead Park. Both teams will advance to the state tournament on June 30. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Blue Wahoos Fall to Braves; Magic Number Drops To Two
June 18, 2023
The Blue Wahoos changed names and uniform design for the second time Saturday as the Pensacola Pok-Ta-Pok.
But they weren’t able to reverse fate.
A capacity crowd was immediately quieted, after the Mississippi Braves erupted for five runs in the first inning and carried that into a 6-3 victory to continue being a roadblock at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
It was Pensacola’s third consecutive loss, which matched a season high.
But the team continued getting help from the Montgomery Biscuits, who beat the Biloxi Shuckers for a third straight time Saturday, thus enabling the Blue Wahoos (37-25) to have a shot Sunday at clinching the first-half race in the Southern League South Division in the series finale.
The Biscuits and Shuckers are both six games back with seven to play. The Blue Wahoos, however, have a head-to-head tiebreaker edge against Montgomery, and would clinch the division with a win and a Biscuits victory over Biloxi on Sunday. The M-Braves (30-31) are 6.5 games back after one game this season was not made up due to weather.
Saturday’s game at Blue Wahoos Stadium started an hour late at 7:09 p.m. following more rain at the ballpark. The Blue Wahoos staff and grounds crew members worked quickly to pull the tarp and prepare the field.
The rest of the night became favorable, enabling the crowd of 5,038 to take in the post-game fireworks as the usual Saturday attraction. On this night, it was also designated part of Pensacola’s participation in the Copa de la Diversión program, designed to honor baseball’s Latin American heritage.
Pok-ta-Pok was a game that dates back 4,000 years and was the first ball sport in recorded history played in the Americas.
Pensacola lost its first game in the specialty series on May 5, also against the M-Braves.
This one took a similar narrative.
The M-Braves produced five runs in the first inning off Blue Wahoos starter Luis Palacios, all with two outs. It was the third consecutive inning – going back to Friday night – that Blue Wahoos pitchers had yielded five runs in an inning.
Palacios struggled with control and ran long counts in throwing 27 pitches to give up the runs.
M-Braves leadoff batter Cal Conley singled, then stole second to start the rally. With one out, Palacious hit Jesse Franklin in his batter’s helmet. With two outs, he walked Landon Stephens, which became a decisive point. Drew Campbell followed with a double that cleared the bases and included a error on left fielder Dalvy Rosario.
The next batter, Beau Philip, blasted a two-run homer before Palacios got out of the inning when facing the eight M-Braves batter. The M-Braves increased the lead to 6-0 on Stephens’ solo homer.
Pensacola’s lone jolt of offense occurred in the bottom of the sixth when Nasim Nuñez led off by reaching on an error. Troy Johnston singled, then José Devers hit a two run single and advanced to third on a throwing error. Griffin Conine drove in the third run with a ground out.
But from that point, the M-Braves bullpen shut down Pensacola on zero hits in the final three innings.
The Blue Wahoos will try to salvage a split in the series Sunday, after winning the first two games earlier this week.
Jake Walters will make his second start for the Blue Wahoos. He worked four innings on May 12 against Birmingham, allowing one run. The M-Braves will counter with Tanner Gordon (2-3, 3.98 ERA), who started Tuesday’s game.
by Bill Vilona, photo Nino Mendez / Pensacola Blue Wahoos
Blue Wahoos Lose Twice, But Magic Number Shrinks To Three
June 17, 2023
The weather changed from dangerous to welcoming. The ballpark was full again. And those Hawaiian shirts remain in demand.
These were wins in what became a double loss on the field Friday for the Blue Wahoos against the Mississippi Braves.
After the M-Braves first rallied for a 6-5 win in 10 innings in the resumption of Thursday’s suspended game, they kept hot bats rolling in clubbing 18 hits, including a pair of grand slams, plus a 3-run blast in their 15-3 win in Friday’s scheduled game.
Both outcomes dulled the mood among a capacity crowd (5,038) at Blue Wahoos Stadium on Giveaway Friday. The supply of ultra-popular Hawaiian shirts from sponsor Kona Brewing Company were distributed in less than 10 minutes. The first group of fans formed a line an hour and a half before the gates opened.
But despite twin defeats, the Blue Wahoos (37-24) actually gained closer to the finish of the first half division race. The Montgomery Biscuits swept a doubleheader against the Biloxi Shuckers, thus trimming the magic number to 3 in the Blue Wahoos’ quest to repeat as Southern League First Half South Division winners.
They maintain a six-game lead over Biloxi with eight games left in the schedule. The Biscuits (7 games back) and M-Braves (7.5) are close to elimination.
Veteran major-league pitcher Johnny Cueto made his second injury rehab start Friday on a path to return to the Miami Marlins. It did not go well.
Cueto gave up a trio of first-inning singles after one out. The next batter, M-Braves first baseman Cade Bunnell, blasted a Cueto pitch over the right-field berm for a grand slam.
Cueto finished the night working into the fourth inning, as planned, but allowed seven hits and five fly ball outs. He struck out one batter and threw 62 pitches.
Blue Wahoos fans provided an ovation as Cueto exited in the fourth inning and he acknowledged the crowd by tipping his hand and signaling his appreciation.
The Blue Wahoos pulled within 4-3 in the sixth inning on Griffin Conine’s two-run homer, his 11th HR this season.
From that point, however, the bullpen was rocked.
The M-Braves exploded for five runs in the seventh and eighth innings against relievers Jonathan Bermudez and Brady Puckett. They combined to yield 10 hits.
The suspended game resumed in the top of the seventh Friday tied at 3-3 and without fans when it began at 5 p.m. – an half hour before gates opened.
The game had been stopped at 8:22 p.m. Thursday night when the first band of severe storms struck and stayed through the night.
Blue Wahoos reliever Josan Méndez got the final out of the seventh and retired the M-Braves in the eighth. Conine hit a solo home run to provide a 4-3 lead in the seventh.
But in the ninth, the M-Braves’ Hudson Potts led off with a game-tying home run against Cristian Charle. It forced the extra inning and the M-Braves got a two-out, two-run homer from Luke Waddell.
The Blue Wahoos got an RBI sacrifice fly from Nasim Nuñez and had two runners on, but the M-Braves’ Alec Barger struck out Cody Morissette to end the game.
The Blue Wahoos will try to regain a series lead on Saturday in the fifth game of the series.
Luis Palacios (4-1, 4.55) will be on the mound against the M-Braves’ Domingo Robles (4-4, 3.68).
First Deer In Florida Confirmed With Chronic Wasting Disease. Here’s What To Know.
June 16, 2023
The first case of chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been confirmed in Florida.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said road-killed 4.5-year-old female white-tailed deer in Holmes County sampled during routine surveillance activities has tested positive. It is the first known case of CWD in Florida, a contagious disease of the brain and central nervous system that is fatal to deer.
The FWC and its agency partners take CWD very seriously and have implemented a comprehensive response plan. As part of the plan, the FWC will collect samples from specific established zones to further assess the spread of the disease. The results from this initial sampling effort will inform resource managers so they can react with appropriate management strategies.
The FWC has been monitoring free-ranging deer since 2002 to detect CWD. During that time, the FWC has tested approximately 17,500 hunter-killed, road-killed and sick or diseased deer for CWD.
The FWC and its agency partners said they are taking CWD very seriously and have implemented a comprehensive response plan. As part of the plan, the FWC will collect samples from specific established zones to further assess the spread of the disease. The results from this initial sampling effort will inform resource managers so they can react with appropriate management strategies.
The FWC has been monitoring free-ranging deer since 2002 to detect CWD. During that time, the FWC has tested approximately 17,500 hunter-killed, road-killed and sick or diseased deer for CWD
“Working with FDACS (Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services) and our other partners, I’m hopeful that our combined efforts will limit the effects this will have on Florida’s deer population and preserve our exceptional hunting opportunities for future generations statewide,” said FWC Executive Director Roger Young.
The FWC is asking anyone who sees a sick, abnormally thin deer or finds a deer dead from unknown causes to call the CWD hotline, 866-CWD-WATCH (866-293-9282) and report the animal’s location.
Currently, there is no scientific evidence that CWD can be transmitted to humans or livestock under natural conditions. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention do not recommend consuming meat from animals that test positive for CWD or from any sick animal.
“We take very seriously our responsibility to prevent, detect, and respond to animal health issues in Florida – all to safeguard our agriculture industry and our world-renowned wildlife and natural resources,” said FDACS Commissioner Wilton Simpson. “Ensuring the health of Florida’s deer population is a team effort, and we will continue to work diligently with our state and federal partners to respond.”
CWD is a contagious disease believed to be caused by an abnormal protein called a prion. It is a fatal disease for all members of the deer family and is currently documented in white-tailed deer, mule deer, sika deer, elk, moose and caribou. Signs of the disease usually appear 1.5 to 3 years after initial exposure and can include extreme weight loss and abnormal behaviors such as listlessness, lowering of the head, inattentiveness toward people, walking in circles, staggering and standing with a wide stance.
Controlling the spread of CWD is difficult once it becomes established in a natural population. Because prions shed by infected deer persist in the environment, the best chance for controlling CWD is acting quickly after it’s been detected to prevent more animals from becoming infected. CWD can be transmitted directly – from animal to animal – or indirectly from the environment. Multiple management strategies will be employed to control the spread of the disease.
The FWC along with its partners – the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida Department of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study – will continue to update the public as more information becomes available.
Wahoos, Braves Suspended Due To Weather
June 16, 2023
Thursday’s game between the Pensacola Blue Wahoos and Mississippi Braves was suspended due to rain with the score tied 3-3 in the top of the seventh inning.
The game will be resumed at 5:05 p.m. Friday with no fans admitted.
Gates will open at 5:30 p.m. for Friday’s regular game scheduled to begin at 6:35 p.m.
NEP 10U Gold Wins All-Star Tourney; NEP 10U Blue Takes Second
June 15, 2023
NEP 10U Gold softball took first place and NEP 10U Blue softball finished in second place in the GCGSA All-Star Tournament last weekend.
Kayla Wroblewski was named the 10u Tournament Defensive Player MVP.
Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
